Red Lamp
by katBelle
Summary: Sasuke is forced to seek out the devil's help, knowing the consequences if he doesn't strike a bargain with him. Itachi awaits his brother's arrival, smirk in place and contract in hand. ItaSasu, Uchicest.
1. Ravens are Laughing, Says the River Styx

The following is to be read in a posh English accent.

* * *

Dante once wrote of his descent into a land of nightmares and torment. His descent was slow and winding as he passed through each circle, falling deeper and deeper. And one has to wonder- why the hell would he go there voluntarily? Sightseeing has its merits and all but… This isn't a Dantean tale. If anything it would be Faustian. Because in this world, no one has to seek out that alluring inferno. Everyone knows where it is.

The city spreads out before the eyes. A dirty river runs through it, spanned by low bridges speckled with small globes of electricity to light the way of late-night travelers. The fifth bridge from the downtown has a light that glows red. It's not terribly noticeable at first. Look closely. It's the one at the very end of the bridge, just before the intersection. Still the unsuspecting driver, whizzing by on a rainy night might get a fright, when the stream of yellow-orange suddenly flashes red, like flashing eyes in the dark. Perhaps this scarlet lamp used to be a signal for what lies down the road should one turn at the streetlight. Perhaps it is a warning to not step foot on the dark lane that hugs the riverbank. Perhaps it is an incorrect ratio of tungsten to sodium metals of the lightbulb's filament.

Regardless, a signal is no longer needed for everyone knows what dwells down the road. And for those willing to seek this place the warning will go unheeded.

Crows flock around the area, constantly circling and perching on an apartment building of black glass and metal that stares out over the river. Lights of the city reflect from its surface only dimly. It's as if the building holds a force so great it swallows light.

Everyone knows who it is that dwells there. On the top floor in room 666. They say he owns the whole building- at least, no one knows of anyone else who resides there, despite the prime location. But it's in that room that one may go to conduct business with him, so long as an appointment is made and kept exactly on time.

The devil himself is behind that door. There's no descent into an inferno, just a pristine elevator. They come to him to strike bargains. They come when there is no other choice. No one goes because they want to see Hell, although they certainly know what it looks like when they leave, if they leave. They won't entertain with tales of fire and brimstone. No, nor tales of ice and wind. They'll tell you that Hell is the smirk of a beautiful man. Hell is dark eyes that flash red with a fearful intelligence and knowing- a knowing that can look into your soul. Hell is the words that spill like a siren's song from his mouth. Not just any words. These are words that twist your reality, that solve your impossible problem with ease, before capturing your heart and soul.

They go in saying their lives are ruined and this is the last hope. If they live they'll tell you they were wrong- that life was dandy and normal and if only they had known then…

If they don't come out they are erased from the memories of Earth and swiped from the records.

Hell can be found beyond a red lamp at the end of bridge, heralded by the cawing of ravens.

The devil goes by the name Uchiha Itachi.

* * *

Sasuke stares out at the river. He is leaning against his car. An apartment building rises next to him. A lone car passes over a nearby bridge, past a red lamp, and disappears. A raven cries out and Sasuke wonders vaguely why it isn't sleeping. He inhales deeply. It smells of water and smoke and concrete. He sighs and pushes away from the car. He runs a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs away from his face before swinging open the glass door of the building.

The inside lobby is a strange mix of corporate office and abandoned hotel. There are two shiny black doors of elevators, gold arrow and floor marker above each. A thick Persian carpet covers the marble floor and runs up a large curved staircase. An ancient piano, only half covered by a white sheet, sits shoved away in a corner near an old bar.

"Oi Sasuke," a large man behind a sleek black desk says. "You forgot to make an appointment."

"My apologies Kisame," Sasuke smiles nastily. "Please inform Itachi that I'll be waiting here whenever he can fit me in."

"Er, no that's okay."

"Hm? I can go up without an appointment?"

"Uh, yeah."

Sasuke smirks.

The elevator dings and a hassled Diedara lurches out. He smoothes his bulter-esque attire, flicking his ponytail over his shoulder. "Finally!" he snaps at Sasuke. "He's been waiting for you all night. And he's in a wonderfully sadistic mood."

"Aw, did he give it to you like you've been wanting for the past decade?"

"No!" Diedara screeches. "People have been signing their lives over to him _over the phone_!"

Sasuke perches an eyebrow asking so what?

"It's his laugh," Dieadara says lowly and conspiratorially. "I swear that sound just overwrote my heartbeat."

The phone at the desk rings. Diedara skip-jumps away from it.

Sasuke steps into the elevator and it dings shut as a reluctant Kisame answers the phone.

"Patience, brother," Sasuke speaks softly to the camera he knows is watching him somewhere.

* * *

When the door that bears the number 666 swings most customers are greeted by a blonde man. He wears a bow tie around his neck, shined black shoes on his feet, and vest over a white shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He pulls the door open with a grin, gestures customers into the room, and judges them based on their reactions to the penthouse. The room itself is gorgeous. It's a large living space that is incredibly open. Windows that span from the floor to the two-story ceiling offer a view of the river and sparkling skyscrapers beyond. A large white couch folds around a glass coffee table. A modest staircase of white metal leads to a platform that wraps around the room's three inner walls. The walk is lined with bookshelves and various antiques and unidentifiables.

More than one curious item can be found there. The more brave of the customers will notice a crucifix of copper and raise an eyebrow at it. Should such a thing belong in the devil's abode? Though truly the humble chalice wedged between an ancient Korean text and a journal titled The Path to Atlantis should really draw the stares. But it goes unnoticed for the most part. The real attention grabber is a blue diamond that appears to be the bookend for a series of Shakespeare plays.

Of course when the customer first steps into this curious space they are afforded a view of two paintings. They hardly stand out against the white of the room, yet one may recognize the pale blue, almost whitewashed paintings, as the Waterloo Bridge and the Charing Cross Bridge. If one is knowledgeable they may even recognize the works themselves. And if they do the longhaired blonde butler will smile. If the paintings are spared barely a glance the butler will grow extremely irritated in a manner of seconds and huff and give a lecture on the appreciation of art that will continue until a soft velvety word is spoken. The butler will immediately stop talking and bow and the customer will shiver and, in innumerable cases, lose the ability to speak, and, in four separate cases, lose the ability to keep their heart beating below a rate of 250.

Only four customers have been greeted otherwise. One was a burglar new to town who was greeted with no less than thirteen different models of guns, duplicate copies of each, and a resulting early death- although not early as he would have liked after being acquainted with the owner of the apartment. Two were stalkers who, enraptured by the devil's beauty, sought triumphant and noble deaths by his hand. They got less than what they wanted. Had they lived, one would have perhaps said that in retrospect she was glad that her angel had not sullied his hand by being the one to push her from the roof. The other would say that it was an act of love that Itachi had ordered one of his men to do the deed. Foolish to the last.

The fourth customer to be greeted in a unique way was Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

"_Shoes_," Itachi stresses.

Sasuke toes them off and quietly observes the penthouse.

Itachi hands him a glass of red wine.

"Is that-?" Sasuke questions looking at the paintings.

"Yes."

"Hmm. They aren't very pretty." He dismissively takes a sip from the wine and wanders into the large space.

Itachi's eyebrow twitches.

Sasuke circles the room slowly, pausing to look out over the city. It twinkles in the dark. He loosens the tie knotted around his neck.

"Nervous, brother?"

Sasuke huffs and turns away from the view. Itachi is lounging on the white couch. His long legs, clad in black jeans, are crossed at the ankles. His long-sleeved shirt is pushed up away from his hands. The nails are painted black. Itachi's hair in in a loose ponytail that hangs over his shoulder. The collar of his shirt is wide and loose, displaying a strong collarbone that presses up against pale skin and creates a purple shadowed divert.

"Father misses you," Sasuke says.

"No he doesn't."

"Well, he misses having a perfect son. He talks about you and what you…do."

Itachi smiles. "What's he say I do?"

"The devil's work," Sasuke replies promptly.

"Do you believe him?"

"I'm not that stupid," Sasuke says. "I know you put that poor guy out of business a while ago."

Itachi chuckles. "I'm not evil."

"Aren't you?" Sasuke asks seriously.

"I need your help," Sasuke says after a pause.

"Of course. I suspected you would come to me when I heard what happened. I admit I never expected you to need my help. You've always been eager to clean up your own messes. But I was glad when you came. I know you wouldn't set foot in here unless it was to grovel at my feet."

Sasuke grows angry immediately. "That's not what I'm doing."

"No? You haven't visited me in three years."

"Because father-."

"Father disowned me but that didn't require the same commitment on your part," Itachi says.

Sasuke grins suddenly. He moves to the couch, slowly. The fluid movement of his body demands Itachi's gaze. Sasuke sets his wine on the coffee table and leans over Itachi.

His mouth moves to Itachi's ear and speaks seductively in it. "Stop acting like an abandoned puppy and just say you've missed me." He trails a hand through Itachi's ponytail.

"Mh," Itachi laughs in his throat. He pulls his brother in closer and trails his lips over Sasukes' cheekbone, brushing over to his ear. His hands press into Sasuke's lower back.

"Isn't that puppy _you_ Sasuke? I can't fault you for your feelings of course…" His tongue darts out to lick Sasuke's ear. He feels the responding buckle in his brother's knees. "I left you in the middle of your training after all."

Sasuke pushes away. "You were not training me!" he snaps.

"But I was," Itachi disagrees. "I was so close too," he adds with a not-so-small hint of irritation.

"No you weren't," Sasuke hisses.

"Whatever you say, brother."

"You're not the good guy."

"What?"

"You're not the good guy," Sasuke repeats. "You always act nice and understanding and that's why people come to you, but I know you're just manipulative."

Itachi laughs. "I know I am. And I'm glad you know too. That's why I love you. But regardless of what you say, you're still sitting on my couch asking for help. So come on S'ke. Tell your nii-san what the problem is," he croons. "I'll fix it."

"No. I didn't come as your brother. I'm a customer."

"Really? Then go make an appointment, customer."

"Childish much?" Sasuke asks sassily. "You know, I always thought the devil liked to play a little too much. Maybe he really was just a bored bratty kid."

"Hardly," Itachi says with just as much sass. "God was the child. Throwing tantrums when he didn't get attention and changing the rules whenever he felt like it. The devil was the former lover that he cast away."

"You're saying the devil turned to tormenting souls because he wasn't _loved_?" Sasuke mocks.

"No, it's because he was loved. But he got thrown away anyways because of some made up, insignificant rules."

Sasuke rubs his forehead. "Maybe he just wasn't amusing enough to keep around," he mutters.

"What?" Itachi demands dangerously cold.


	2. Sweet as Honey, the Devil's Tongue

There is a common myth that the devil is a shape-shifter. In the Emerald Isles he is a dancing fairy, in the desert a jackal-headed man. In ancient times he slithered as a serpent, coiling around pink and red flowers, tongue flicking against the petals and dreaming of the rot to follow. It was during an eerie _something_ before that, before time existed that the devil perhaps had his truest form. A face as awe-inspiring as lightning and wings of soft feathers. It was then that he was loved by his lord.

Wherever he appears on the earth it is in a way to best suit his dark intentions. Why then it was a surprise that he should appear as a rich and beautiful boy with a lying tongue of velvet is beyond me.

The police force had first heard of Uchiha Itachi when he was twelve. No, that's not entirely true- they, and the entire city had heard of him when the young heir had first been born to the Uchiha family. Maybe being marked from birth as the next crime lord had turned the beautiful young boy into what he now is. By the age of eight Uchiha Itachi had killed his first man. There were no witnesses to the crime except, as many now suspect, a raven-haired boy too small to know what happened.

It was only when the boy was twelve that a recorded tape of the incident was found. It was labeled the Cor14 Tape. It left the police wondering what else the youngster had gotten away with. It left psychologists wondering at the genius and perverseness of the young mind. It left everyone wondering how many people had truly been in the room. It wasn't until a tag team of a psychiatrist and demonologist came up with a new theory that things started to make a small degree more sense.

On the tape were fourteen different voices, one the victim's, one a polite seven-year-old Itachi. The voice of the polite Itachi vanishes after two minutes, when the victim mentions the softness of a certain baby's skin. What follows contains twelve different voices, all with their own analyzed set of personality traits that include: one Japanese (one the distinctive slang of the yakuza), one Korean, two women, one of decibels over 125, four sadistic, one archaic Armenian, two hemophilic, one diagnosed schizophrenic, one passive-aggressive, and one of a seven year old boy. Analysts worked to differentiate between the voices and identified fourteen persons. When the criminal database was searched, no matches were found. It was then that the psychiatrist and demonologist, a Dr. Nara and Dr. Hidan, came forward with a theory that all fourteen personalities were in fact one person- the police were wasting their time searching for suspects who did not exist.

Dr. Nara insists to this day the subject has the most fascinating, extraordinary mind on earth to function in society with such a diverse range of complex emotions. It should be noted that there is a controversy as to whether the subject does in fact function in society. While Dr. Nara has stated that he does not necessarily agree with his colleagues claim that "those f*cking tapes have all the signs of divinity and demon possession. The f*cking devil is in that kid or hell he probably is the f*cking devil!", Dr. Nara does say that the statement has some merit. The two spent two years studying the subject and expanding their theory until Dr. Hidan disappeared to locations unknown, although there was some speculation based on a statement of him saying "I think I f*cking love this kid, he's a pure goddamn f*cking mastermind" that he has entered into the Uchiha's employment.

No arrests were made for the murder.

Sasuke had heard about the Cor14 tape but he wasn't prepared for the frigid coldness of Itachi's voice. Never had he heard that deathly tone in his admirable aniki. Nor was he prepared for the lustful energy that crackles now from his brother's body. Who was this man?

Within a second Sasuke is on his back, pressed in the white couch, staring up at his brother. Itachi fists Sasuke's tie, yanking him up to meet his own lips. His tongue pushes into Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke struggles, twisting away to gasp in oxygen that the tie and Itachi's mouth deny. A pronounced gasp punctuates the heavy breathing when Itachi's thigh rubs into Sasuke's groin.

A hand on his chest pushes him back into the cushions and another hand moves to give his crotch more localized stimulation. It grips him through his slacks at that place growing hotter and hotter with blood. Itachi's tongue takes another dive behind his teeth.

Sasuke struggles to push him away. When Itachi finally pulls away, Sasuke is hard. Itachi's head sinks down to mouth the clothed erection.

"Ah! Shit!" Sasuke snarls. His hips jerk up before he kicks Itachi's stomach and scrambles away.

"Amused yet, Sasuke?"

"You're an ass," Sasuke hisses trying to catch his breath and will the arousal away.

Itachi laughs and sits back on his side of the couch.

"We never did go that far in your training did we? It was all sweet kisses from aniki."

"It wasn't training!" Sasuke snaps rather worthlessly- Itachi's always in his own untouchable reality.

"What can I do for you Sasuke? Or, more accurately," Itachi smirks at the bulge in Sasuke's lap, "What are you willing to let me do for you?"

"I made a mistake," Sasuke mutters, squirming to hide the embarrassment. "If I don't fix it Father will be forced to expel me from the family."

"It's that serious?"

"I know you've heard," Sasuke glares, miserable in his distress.

"Hm," Itachi hums, rather enjoying the image of an irritated and ruffled Sasuke. "So you killed a cop this time."

"Yes."

"Hm. Why is it that Father can't make a payoff?"

"It's- do you remember Naruto?"

"Uzamaki. You're on a first name basic with a cop?"

"Yeah. He's a homicide detective now and…he won't let it go."

"So why do you need my help? Even if you can't kill him yourself, someone in the family could."

"I was hoping there was another way."

"I see. So you simply want Uzamaki to stop investigating the double homicide, correct?"

"Without him being killed," Sasuke stipulates.

"Alright, Mr. Customer. I'll take care of it. All that's left is my payment. I want you to stay with me tonight."

"When you say that…"

"Don't play coy S'ke. You know what I want- your willing participation. And you have to stay until morning."

"That's all?"

"Yes."

Silence reigns in the room for long minutes.

"Fine," Sasuke finally agrees.

Ah the devil's deal. So sweet it seems at first.

* * *

"Undress," Itachi orders. His eyes glint and his tongue wets his lips as he watches his brother.

They are in his bedroom. It's a privilege no other customer has, to step beyond the living room, through the eternally closed door of heavy cherry. His bedroom is much darker than the living room, not the view, which is the same, but the color scheme. The carpet is thick and matches the black walls. The only color comes from the deep almost-black-but-still-purple comforter that covers white silk sheets.

Sasuke looks lost standing by the foot of the large bed.

"Undress," Itachi repeats. This time he doesn't give Sasuke the chance to disobey but instead steps in close to him, unknotting his tie deftly. Sasuke's eyes hold a daring intensity. Itachi can't resist giving him a long massaging kiss. He leaves him breathless again before moving on to unbutton his shirt. Sasuke flinches when his slender fingers dip under his waistband to tug the shirt out. The involuntary movement doesn't please Itachi. He rips the shirt out and off his shoulders and just as quickly removes his undershirt.

He kisses him again, deeper, searching for the back of his throat and stretching the corners of his mouth. It's choking Sasuke and their saliva mingles in a dirty way but Itachi doesn't back down. Sasuke stumbles back against the bed.

"Mmph!" The mouth morphing muffles the surprised sound Sasuke makes when Itachi's hands grab his butt and lift him to deposit him in an undignified heap on the bed. Itachi is quick to straddle his legs. He pushes his legs apart and runs a palm over the pants, up Sasuke's thigh. He cups him. Sasuke shifts away minutely.

Itachi growls. He leans over Sasuke's bare chest. His ponytail falls over one shoulder and he pushes it away. He claims Sasuke's mouth once more. This time his tongue pushes back. Itachi enjoys the teasing fight. But when he pulls back Sasuke has a confused wrinkle between his eyebrows. His lost little brother reaches up slowly and tugs the band from Itachi's hair. The release locks float down over both shoulders. Sasuke flings the band away to run his hand through the silky hair. He gathers it to one side before tugging gently, so gently. Itachi follows the pull into another kiss.

Itachi's fingers work to undo his belt and he breaks the sweet kiss to push his brother's pants down. He gives the body an appreciative once, twice, or three times, over.

"See something you like?" Sasuke asks exasperated, breaking Itachi's thoughts.

"Hmm," Itachi smiles. He bends to kiss Sasuke's inner thigh.

"Hey, why am I the only one naked?"

Itachi blinks at the tone. "Are you _pouting_?"

"_No_."

"Really? Because your lip there, it's sticking out."

"No it's not."

Itachi draws in close to them and kisses them. "It was. Now it's just kiss swollen."

Sasuke turns his head embarrassed.

"Do you want me naked, Sasuke?" Itachi purrs.

"I didn't say that."

Itachi kisses him, darts in his mouth, before trailing his lips down to Sasuke's neck and awarding it the proper attention. Sasuke squirms beneath his teeth. His body arcs and a growing erection brushes against Itachi. His hand seeks it out, rubbing the awoken organ.

"What do you say now?" Itachi asks.

Sasuke's lungs gather air. "Hm?" He hums the confused question.

Itachi smiles. "Do you want me naked now?"

"Do what you want!" he growls.

"Stubborn." Itachi moves off him. "Undress me," he commands.

Sasuke sits up and hesitantly wraps his fingers under the hem of Itachi's shirt. He pulls it off and discards it. When he gets to the pants he places a hand to Itachi's chest.

"Your fingers are cold," Itachi observes.

"Shut up." Sasuke pushes him on to his back gently. He undoes the button to Itachi's jeans. Itachi lifts his hips obediently as Sasuke tugs them off. When they're tossed to the floor as well Itachi lifts his arms.

"Come here."

Sasuke crawls over him. Itachi pulls him down abruptly and instantly relishes that warmth of the skin-on-skin contact. His groin seeks the heat the most and rolls up. They both let out moans when they first brush one another. Itachi's hands move to his butt. Their pelvises roll together.

"God, I've waiting so long for this," Itachi moans. His lips press to Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke is already having trouble breathing but when one of Itachi's fingers run down his crack his breaths spiral into gasps. When it presses into soft muscle Sasuke jumps and pushes up off his brother's body.

"Itachi! Wait we- god, we're _brothers_." He covers his eyes with a hand. "This is fucked up."

Itachi tackles him, rolling them over so he's on top where he needs to be. He grinds his hips down into Sasuke and their erections catch and rub on each other. Itachi smiles nastily. "Are you telling me you don't want to get," he slowly thrusts his hips deeper into Sasuke's and Sasuke chokes. "_Incestuous_ with me?" He licks Sasuke's ear and his brother shudders under him.

"It's just a rule S'ke," Itachi says gently in his ear. "An insignificant rule that won't have any bad consequence but what you allow it."

"Unh," Sasuke moans lightly. "If Father found out…"

"_Don't_ mention that man in my bed."

"But if he did, I'd be thrown out and, unhh…Would you _stop_?"

"No," Itachi says fiercely. "You're mine. We made a deal. You're going through with this. If you ever got thrown out of the family I'd take you in. You belong here. _We're_ a real family."

"This isn't what a…_jesus!_...This isn't what family does."

"Sure it is. Family is about love. I'm making love to you S'ke." His mouth scorches over Sasuke's heart.

Sasuke's fingers comb through Itachi's hair and his resolve crumbles.


	3. Tralala, A Short Intermission

The Cabaret is a small, classy bar noted for its gin. It is tucked away beneath the shadows of old warehouses near the banks of the river but is a famous spot. Its counter is made of shiny brass. The floors are kept clean, the waiters polite, and the music soft. It's said to be the oldest bar in the city. At one point in time the ground floor was a simple shop, a cover for the floor beneath it. During Prohibition, the wine would float down the river and find its way to the speakeasy in the basement of The Cabaret. There are whispers that the Uchiha family can be traced back to the dusty old basement beneath the clean wooden boards. Those rumors are kept to a whisper of course. In fact, the existence of the old speakeasy has ever been ascertained. But the booth of red vinyl in the back corner is the most popular for a reason. The wall behind it is cracked. It's not a spidery crack. It's a straight crack and one can imagine that if continued it would outline a hidden door. If it weren't for the patient waiting staff the wall would be smudged with the dirt of people tapping on it and laying their ears to it.

Of course this clean establishment isn't what cabarets really are. Cabarets are dirty and smoky and reek of cologne and alcohol and sexually transmitted disease. Cabaret is a man playing at a plunky piano. Girls dance with straps against their soft thighs and a man with a cane struts about the stage. The plunked out notes sing out. Dat-dat-da-datdat-dat. Da-dat-dadat-dadat-dat-datdad…

Tiktik tik tik goes the cane.

A trumpet blares out.

The stage goes dark and the dancers freeze dead. Their painted faces turn them into dolls, not a limb twitching. At one point in time the theater was the devil's domain.

The actors are minions dancing about a fire with distortedly gleeful faces and limbs that flay about at gruesome angles. And those gruesome misrepresentation of reality is what a cabaret is about. The cabaret is the pinnacle of the absurdity of life. It's sex and death and exaggerating the ugly by striving too hard for beauty. It's that smile that creeps over one's face when something ghastly occurs. It's the empty feeling while making love.

Uzamaki Naruto wonders if absurdity is sitting in a dark office staring at a file of a murder he knows will never be solved. According to the file, The Cabaret was where Uchiha Sasuke could be found earlier that day. It says quite clearly that Uchiha Sasuke was captured on the security cameras. But the electronic eyes were only on the outside of the establishment. And the human eyes on the inside were less than reliable.

Despite the smoke free air that light filtered through at the intensity of an average morning, not one person had managed to catch Sasuke jumping up from his stool, striding to a man, a police officer by coincidence, and hissing at him before pulling out a concealed pistol and shooting him- just once- right between the eyes. The most that the personable and attractive, hell, downright _sexy _detective could coax from anyone was that the dead man may _may_ have been talking about Itachi in an unpleasant manner and that the only words from Sasuke's mouth anyone had heard were "curing you of ignorant moronic spasms of the tongue". And Naruto only gathered that much after sleeping with five different witnesses. Those people had loyalty to the Uchihas and an unfathomable desire to play with the blonde's "cute" hair. Naruto thinks maybe Sasuke should go to a shrink because he knows for a fact that the bastard hasn't even seen his brother in three years and is still willing to kill to defend his reputation.

Naruto yawns and flips through the file before tossing it on the desk. He doesn't have any inclination to arrest his buddy. In fact he's trying to prevent that from happening. For a moment he wonders at the wisdom of driving past the red lamp before mentally shrugging it away.

Focusing back at the file he grins. Man, he gets a kick from hearing about the temperamental Uchiha and has a burning curiosity to know the full story. But he knows it's a closed book.

Thankfully there's no evidence of Sasuke's involvement so that's that.

Curtain closed.

* * *

Sasuke squints in the darkness trying to figure out the happy feeling and utter contentment that's blanketed his mind. It's making his thoughts sluggish. His brother's arm is slung over him. Their legs are tangled. Their faces are close together. Itachi's hair is splayed over the pillow and he breathes softly.

It was pulling the trigger for his brother that forced Sasuke past the red lamp, that forced him to agree to that same brother's pact, that forced him into this bed with this devil. This gorgeous sexy devil with locks of silky hair and beautiful muscles and soft skin and a hard, deliciously hard-

And open eyes of glowing red.

"You're staring too loudly," the devil says in a velvet purring voice.

Sasuke grabs a pillow and smothers him.

Itachi bats it away laughing. "You're awfully awake little brother. Don't tell me I didn't wear you out."

"You think you're a god don't you?"

"Yes."

"That everyone should obey you?"

"Of course."

"Well, _you didn't wear me out_."

Itachi attacks him in a flurry of blankets. His lips press to Sasuke's mouth, his bare chest skims against Sasuke's. His hand caresses his belly.

"You may have not obeyed me," Itachi whispers, "But you played into my hand. I was hoping for a second round."

"Who says I'm giving you that?"

"You are," Itachi says confidently.

Sasuke stares at him skeptically for a moment. "Second?"

"Whatever number we're on. I lost count."

"_You_ lost something? Aren't you the man who can find anything?"

"For a price. But I lose things all the time. I lose my mind when you kiss me."

"Sap," Sasuke accuses pushes his face away.

"I lose my breath when I see you sleeping."

"Creep."

"I lost my heart on the day you were born."

Sasuke pauses. "Does that make me a cradle robber?"

Itachi laughs. "I'm glad you didn't call me that one."

"Hm. Kiss me," Sasuke demands.

"Yes, my Lord."

Sometime later Sasuke will wonder if absurdity is his cock deep in the throat of his brother. In the next two seconds he'll come and decide that, yes the ridiculous intensity of the pleasure he feels is absurd. In the next four seconds his brother will kiss him and Sasuke will decide that he wants the rest of his life to be nothing short of absurd.


	4. If Light Can Be Shed

...Are Photons the Equivalent of A Winter Coat?

Morning comes and sheds its weak dawn light over the river. Stars stud the sky like metal diamonds and the moon is still bright in the indigo sky. There's a feeling of anticipation. The light reflects of the black tinted glass of the apartment building. Soon though it will penetrate more strongly and shed light on the truth.

It's a strange concept that light could bring the truth out of a person. After all, it's in the light that people feel most emotionally vulnerable and thus are more guarded. True natures come out in the dark places of the world. The concept has been used for business and interior design for centuries. A confessional booth encloses a person in a cozy, dimly light embrace. Bars for picking up lovers utilize lowlights. Interrogation rooms have been upgraded as well. The bare light bulb swinging on exposed wire that shines intimidatingly into the suspects face has been removed. Now they are kept dim, the one-way window dark.

It's said that Uchiha Itachi was once taken to an interrogation room.

A copy of the conversation found its way into the bottom drawer of Detective Uzamaki's desk and the private files of Dr. Nara. On occasion after a long day of chasing the baddies Naruto can be found, feet on his desk, leaning back in his swivel chair and rocking back and forth in laughter at the record. After his laugh he will carefully place the file back into his desk, behind his bottle of whiskey, beneath his emergency supply of bullets, beside a not-quite legally registered handgun, and under other profiles of various Uchihas. Apart from this two all other evidence of the 'visit' was mercifully destroyed.

Although the incident took place five months after Itachi had been cast out of his ancestral home and disowned by his parents, out of respect for his name he was left uncuffed in the interrogation. The interrogation started with a psychological evaluation, a series of questions that began to resemble outright taunting as the Uchiha remained stoic and unresponsive. The first notable response on Itachi's part came after the doctor, considered by that time an expert on the black sheep Uchiha, listed a series of mental disorders that he had diagnosed the Uchiha with. These disorders included ASPD, DID, schizophrenia, GSA and, the doctor strongly suspected, depression. He went on to add that although some of the disorders were almost certainly constructs made by the Uchiha as a defense mechanism, and displayed in the Cor14 tapes, the GSA appeared to be a defining characteristic to Itachi's true personality. The doctor had gone on to mention a certain younger brother and ask how Itachi felt about his brother's refusal to see Itachi for the past few months.

Itachi had revealed another personality, this one containing aristocratic French characteristics with his succinct response of "baisez vous". Dr. Nara had laughed and asked if his brother loved him back. Itachi had responded with a soft spoken "peut-etre que" that belied his emotions and his following aggression.

Years later while speaking with a French colleague about the lasting effects of neurotoxins on axons in the frontal lobe of the human brain, Dr. Nara would realize that he had made an association between the French words that Itachi had spoken softly in that room and a sudden need for adrenaline and the safety of a quiet forest, far, far away from humans and their unpredictable nature.

Out of respect for his name Uchiha Itachi had been left uncuffed in the interrogation room. Never again would that mistake be made. The interrogation monitor, one Mr. Ibiki Morino, made an iron-strong rule that day: that for any other situations involving the Uchiha, the psychotic man was never to be left, uncuffed or otherwise, in the interrogation room, indeed in the entire police station, ever again.

It could be assumed that the absences of a bright bare light bulb hanging from an exposed wire had not left the Uchiha any more vulnerable than usual. But one might note that he is tender regarding a certain subject. Or person, as it were.

It's early morning still. Itachi is gazing out the floor to ceiling windows at the river. A sheet is folded around his hips like the garb of an Egyptian prince. He lifts a mug of steaming liquid to lips that are caught in a pleased smirk.

Through the cracked door to the bedroom he can see Sasuke's pile of blankets.

Itachi picks up his cell phone and dials a number.

"Good morning Naruto."

"'Morning…who is this?"

"Your guardian angel," Itachi says dryly.

"Oh! Itachi!"

"Is everything prepared?"

"Of course," Naruto chirps. "Fuck, wait! Is it today?! Holy shit I've been waiting like forever to take down the Uchihas! Uh, not you. Just- shit this is awesome. Uchihas are like the baddest of the bad and to take down the whole family in one go…"

"I'm glad you share my enthusiasm. Sasuke will be safe from it. I've taken steps to ensure that. My men will message you soon. They'll provide the evidence you need and accompany you to make sure everything goes as planned."

"Uh, I don't think I can use your guys. They're, like, civilians."

"I assure you no one will know of their involvement but you and I. They're good at hiding."

"Okay," Naruto agrees doubtfully.

"I'll collect my payment at a later date."

"Wait _what_? Hold up."

"Naruto, I gave you everything you wanted," Itachi says fakely morose. "You came to me wanting to take down the Uchiha family while protecting Sasuke. I have arranged everything."

"Don't make it sound like you're saving him for _my_ sake."

"Regardless, I still fulfilled your wish. I warned you that you were taking your job too seriously. But you and your martyr complex…" he tuts disapprovingly.

"Is this always how you conduct business?" Naruto asks angrily.

"No. But I know our good for your word. Aren't you Detective?"

Naruto growls in his throat. "Fine! What do you want?"

"Hm, I'm not sure yet. You ought to speak to Sasuke though. He feels betrayed by you."

"You told me to open an investigation on him!"

"To accomplish _your_ goal. We're playing the long game Naruto. Your cooperation was necessary."

"Hey, what was with that text last night? Does Sasuke know I put a warrant out for his arrest?"

"Not yet."

"Fuck, he's gonna kill me."

"It was necessary."

"_Why_?"

"Just some extra bait. You did well Naruto. I guarantee you this will all be worth it."

"Depends on what I owe you," Naruto mutters. Then he brightens. "If I talk to him, is that my payment?" Naruto asks slyly.

"No, I know you'll do that anyways."

"Ass! Fine! We'll settle that later. When do we get to start?"

"Soon. Be patient. Sasuke's not out quite yet. Wait for the call."

"Got it."

Almost immediately after hanging up the cell rings. Itachi grins, a sadistic glint in his eyes, as he picks up.

"Itachi! Sasuke's missing, there's a warrant out for his arrest. Your father's men have been searching for him all night but he's gone. Oh, please help us I know what we did was terrible but Itachi, please you're the only one we can turn to."

"Good morning Mother. As it happens I can help you."

"Oh, thank the gods," she sighs. "Your father has been on the phone with the DA all morning but he isn't giving in. He won't even tell us if Sasuke's in custody or not! And he said that the charges against him can't be ignored this time. Someone is behind this. They must know something because they aren't budging. I bet it's that Uzamaki character. I _told_ Sasuke not to associate with him, there's something not right about him."

"His incessant desire to uphold the law?" Itachi inquires mockingly. "No, I understand what you're saying Mother. It would seem that someone is behind this."

"Will you find whoever's responsible for this?"

"Of course. It should be simple."

"Thank you. I knew your Father was wrong about you. I told him you would help us."

"Yes. But I never said I'd do it for free."

"But-Itachi, he's your _brother_."

"I'm aware. But I want something from you…"

Are you detecting a pattern? He's a manipulative little bugger isn't he? It's like the one time he stole a five-year-old Sasuke's stuffed cat and held it ransom in an exchange for a kiss. No, that's not a lie. Well, maybe it is. It appears that the story takes a turn from reality there and there are several existing versions. One claims that Sasuke smacked his brother in the nose for retribution, resulting in a nosebleed. Another is that Sasuke dressed himself in an S&M style cat costume and with the words "if you like cats so much come pet me" proceeded to allow his brother to fuck him into the next month. The most likely is that the young Sasuke smacked a kiss on his brother, snatched back the cat before getting distracted with his brother's long silky hair, and promptly climbed into his lap, generously giving him both the cat and another kiss.

The slightly questionable source of this tale was a certain cousin of Itachi's. It was noted after his comment stating that Sasuke is an "entitled, prissy little girl who can't be left alone for more than five seconds without climbing all over his brother in an attempt to satisfy his own whorish, bottomless need for attention to make up for his lack of anything bearing a resemblance to talent," that the cousin may harbor a certain degree of envy towards the younger brother dating back to their childhood days. Despite the not-so-reliable nature of the story the point is that Itachi showed his manipulative side and penchant for unfair bargains at an early age.

"I need you to promise me Sasuke will remain Father's heir no matter what. Even if he's been arrested."

Mikoto barks out a harsh laugh. "Please. Who else could our heir be? _You?_ Don't be ridiculous. Unlike you, Sasuke deserves our love. _He_ knows what family means."

"Thank you Mother," Itachi replies with some degree of sass. "Send Father over please so we can discuss the situation."

* * *

Ravens caw threateningly from perches along the road while seagulls wheel in circles high above. Itachi sits in a white leather chair near the windows. A thick book lies in his lap. From here he can see the bridge, the road, and the bulge on the bed that is his still-sleeping brother.

A black car with tinted windows turns down the road to the apartment.

Itachi smiles icily and call his butler. "Deidara, I'll need you to escort my father to my bedroom when he arrives."

"Your bed-?"

"Yes all the way in. Don't knock."

"Yessir!"

Itachi hangs up. He waits a few minutes before going into his bedroom. He sits slowly on the edge of his rumpled bed, smiling down at the person still wrapped up in the blankets. He reaches out with pale fingers and runs them over Sasuke's hair without disturbing his sleep. His brother's body is still naked beneath the covers and his hair is tousled cutely. Their activities from last night are clear.

Sasuke mutters something indistinguishable before his eyes crack open. He immediately squints against the morning light.

Itachi leans over and kisses him.

That wakes him up. Sasuke lurches up from the surprise.

"Good morning, little brother."

A blush reddens Sasuke's cheeks and he looks away.

"Sasuke." Itachi slides his fingers beneath Sasuke's chin and forces him to meet his eyes. "Don't look away. Don't be embarrassed. I love you."

He covers Sasuke's lips with his own. "Was it so horrible?" he murmurs as his lips drift over the corner of Sasuke's mouth.

Sasuke shakes his head. "No. It was-."

"Good?" Itachi prompts when he falls silent.

"Very." Sasuke meets his gaze earnestly and determined. "Itachi I- I think I lo-." His confession is cut short. And for the first time in three years Itachi regrets his own actions for leading to that sweet voice being cut off.

"Oh gods, you sick fuckers!"

"_Fuck!_"

"And that sir, is how the lack appreciation in the expressionist movement caused the assassination of the prince of-."

"Deidara."

"Hm?"

"Thank you," Itachi dismisses him. Deidara grins cheekily and sweeps out of the room.

Itachi kisses Sasuke long and slow.

Uchiha Fugaku glares down at them.

Sasuke pulls away from his brother muttering, "Stop."

"Itachi," Fugaku states.

"Father," Itachi returns. "I found Sasuke."

"You disgusting, ungrateful swine of a son."

"That's a tad harsh," Itachi points out blandly.

"You're _brothers_ for gods' sake."

"Father," Sasuke starts to say.

"No," Fugaku cuts him off. "I was worried for you all night. Your mother had a meltdown, she thought you'd been arrested and hauled off to prison like a common criminal."

"Why do I feel like that 'common criminal' bit is what was most upsetting?" Itachi wonders vaguely.

"_Be quiet_," Fugaku commands. Anger drains his face of color. "I expect this from _him_. But how could you betray me like this Sasuke? You've betrayed the family."

"No! I did this for the family-."

"Don't make up such foolish lies!"

"I just wanted to fix things!" Sasuke yells. "Because Naruto was being persistent and-."

"I could have taken care of that Uzamaki character."

"I-," Sasuke falters under his father's anger.

"You failed. You failed the family and I both. You've slept with the devil. So now, now you are out. Uchiha Sasuke, your services are no longer needed. Do not call upon your brothers anymore-their tie to you is cut. Do not look for help from us-you will find none. You are no longer part of us." Formality and coldness rule his words until he adds a bitter, "And don't come home."

With that declaration Uchiha Fugaku stalks from room 666 in a fury.

Deidara escorts him out of the lobby calling out a cheery "bye-bye" as the door slams shut.

"Diedara," Kisame calls him over to the desk.

The butler bends over Kisame's phone, pushing his hair out of the way, to read the text.

It's time. Contact Uzamaki. Take them all out.

-DEVIL

* * *

Chess has long been the gentlemen's game. You may say that it has long been the gentlemen's dance. The kings send their pawns waltzing across the black and white, their knights prancing forth to weave about the dance floor, their elegant rooks sweeping from behind. It's a political dance, bred from ill-feelings towards one another and a need to dominate, all the while hiding behind polite smiles and faulty, insubstantial logic. Because, truly, when has logic ever played the leading role in humanity's affairs? Historians will tell you that chess was probably, mostly likely, maybe developed in the fifth century. This is untrue. In fact this quaint blend of rules and viciousness has been around since the beginning of time, though the playing board has, admittedly, been whittled down after being pulled into spaces of white and black.

It began with the black squares, a mass of darkness. And then, as if on a whim, and with a charming catchphrase "let there be light", the light squares were added. This contrast, with a cupful of imagination and a sprinkle of heartache, would lead to the first chessboard. It may have started with simple boredom on His part, though, more likely, it was a weak attempt to fill a vacant whole He felt when He forced His lover away. It took Him a week to design the game. On the sixth day He added the pieces. On the seventh He told Lucifer the rules. On the eighth day the game began.

It didn't take long for Lucifer to get the feel of the game. A bitterness and ache in his heart made it child's play to toy with the new humans. An unacknowledged understanding of their need for God's love made it easy for him to know their weaknesses. Likewise, Uchiha Itachi knows what it means to be human- to feel the allure and darkness and pain of a forbidden love. He isn't a sociopath like many believe although his actions are so convoluted and controlled that it may seem like he is. However, for the first time, his amused detachment is crumbling. Pawns, knights, bishops, and rooks have been tossed to the side when sacrificed and exhausted. The marble cracks and crumbles under use but never before has Itachi felt remorse. Until now. Because his favorite piece of the board is crumbling.

Sasuke is staring down at the silky sheets at a lost. He was exiled. After everything he'd done for the family, everything he'd done for his _father_, he had been cast away. Because he slept with his brother. It was finally hitting him how momentous that action was. That, based on Fugaku's reaction, Fugaku who never reacts to anything not even a man's brains on his shoe, society may care more than Sasuke wanted to believe.

"Sasuke," Itachi calls out to him gently.

"What?" Sasuke snaps.

"Look at me."

Sasuke obeys but his gaze isn't as lost as Itachi thought at first. It's heated and hateful.

"This is a game to you, isn't it?" Sasuke spits. "You set me up."

"Sasuke…" Itachi reaches for him.

"No! Get away!" Sasuke scrambles from the bed and seeks his pants.

Itachi yanks the rumpled clothing from his hands and pushes him back on to the bed. "Sasuke! Just listen. Yes, I set it up but-."

"You motherfucker," Sasuke snarls.

"_Brother_fucker actually," Itachi corrects snidely. His irritation is starting to show. He pushes it down. "Sasuke, your friend Uzamaki is about to arrest everyone who is part of the Uchiha family and charge them with murder, smuggling, obstruction of justice, and all the other shit they've gotten away with for years. The era of organized crime is ending. With cops like Uzamaki it was inevitable. So I got you out, with some help. More importantly, what happened last night was a separate issue. I love you S'ke. I have forever. Trust me."

"No," Sasuke says shaking his head from side to side. "I can't. You're too good a liar."

Itachi's hands cradle his face. He kisses Sasuke's forehead but Sasuke twists his head to the side. "Sasuke, please," he implores. His dark eyes search for some sign from Sasuke but they only find a coldness that stems from betrayal. Itachi's arms move to encircle Sasuke but he is pushed away.

"Don't touch me."

Itachi tries to speak but Sasuke cuts him off. "Don't talk. I won't listen to you anymore." Sasuke retrieves his clothes from the floor.

"Where are you going?" Itachi asks exasperated by his foolish stubbornness.

Sasuke is yanking his clothes onto his limbs but he manages to lock a glare on to Itachi. "Away from here, and not home. You took that away from me. But you know that. Anymore than that you don't deserve to know."

Sasuke passes through the apartment quickly. When he opens the front door Itachi slams a hand into the face of the wood, slamming it close.

"Sasuke." Itachi's mouth is close to Sasuke's. His shoulders are bent forward, his hand braced on the door. "Please don't leave. I've been waiting for you."

"I knew all the stories about you were true. But I thought I would be an exception. I thought you loved me."

"I do. Sasuke." Itachi sighs his name. His long fingers tickle Sasuke's cheek, skim over the smooth cheekbone. Their lips almost brush.

Sasuke clasps the back of Itachi's head and runs his fingers through his hair. He places a kiss at the corner of Itachi's mouth before pulling back. "Now that I can remember how much I love you I only hate you more," he hisses softly. "And your eyes lie." The fingers in Itachi's hair twirl and tangle the tresses before tugging back violently. Sasuke throws him back and disappears out of room 666. Itachi can only stare in disbelief.


	5. Spoiler Alert: Matricide is in the Title

"Itachi. _What did you do_?"

Itachi ambles over to fall gracefully on his white couch and shifts his cell. "Excuse me?"

"I know what you did to Sasuke! It was bad enough when you abandoned us but to do _that_ to your own brother? You don't deserve to live."

"You mistake the situation Mother."

"No, I think not. I should have known. The minute Sasuke went missing, I should have known you kidnapped him."

"Sasuke is hardly a child. He was with me of his own free will."

"Was he? Or was it part of some 'deal' you made?" she asks slyly. A question to which Itachi has no reply. "O~oh? No words of denial? That isn't like you Itachi."

"Why is it you called?" Itachi inquires.

"You know why. Our contract."

"I upheld my side," Itachi says smoothly. "I found Sasuke for you and found out who was behind his disappearance."

"And who was responsible?" she hisses.

"I was of course. But nevertheless I completed the contract. It's your turn. You promised that Sasuke would remain the heir to the Uchiha estates. That he would always have a home to return to. Yet here we are. Your husband works fast, disowning Sasuke so hastily. The court now holds possession of everything under the Uchiha name and that won't change so long as you and your husband remain in prison."

"I can't do anything about that."

"Can't you?"

Mikoto falls silent.

"I feel obligated to tell you, my men can find you anywhere. Don't think you're safe just because you're surrounded by cement and iron bars."

"No. I wouldn't think that," she says softly. "So that is my only option?"

"Yes."

"Why are you doing this Itachi? Do you expect him to love you after all this? Didn't you learn anything three years ago? Sasuke didn't chase after you. He hated and ignored you. And now it's the same again. You'll fade into the whispers of an urban myth and your brother will scorn you. He'll never return your love and you know it."

"Perhaps not," Itachi agrees docilely. "But all the same, he is mine."

"Oh Itachi," Mikoto says in an infuriating, pitying tone. "He was never yours."

Itachi's hand around the phone is white-knuckled and creaking. "Enjoy the flowers, Mother. And send my regards to Father."

A cell phone flies at the window of room 666 and a vase of red roses flies at the bars of a cell in D block.

* * *

For the first time in her life Uchiha Mikoto is wearing machine-made clothes. And as heart wrenching as that sounds it isn't even the worst part of her day. Her bad mood can be attributed to the fact that she is in prison. And it's all thanks to an upstart, exuberant blonde detective and a soft spoken, semi-psychotic, and mostly asexual, extremely arrogant, yet still endearing and incredibly hot while dressed in a suit or anything else or nothing at all, ginger-headed, jade-eyed lawyer who have been working in tangent gathering evidence for the past three years in order to clear the city of organized crime that she's wearing black and white stripes. I know. At first glance it looks like there are grey stripes too. But that's just the shadows from the prison bars.

Just to clear it up, she hasn't been found guilty yet. But the lawyer and detective had ensured her visit to the high-security cell earlier that day, along with the entirety of the Uchiha crime family. Uchiha Mikoto has long been suspected of being more than just an avid gardener and wife to the head of the Uchiha organization. There are rumors that she is the person behind the disappearances of no less than twenty law-abiding, and apparently too nosy, officials of the city. Disappearances because not a single body has ever been found. Her job as a moonlighting assassin was confirmed by the evidence Uchiha Itachi had handed over to Detective Uzamaki. The same Itachi who had, at the early age of five, stumbled upon a new and particularly messy method of painting the roses red that did not involve paint.

What follows is unclear. Like the black and white and grey fuzzies on a television. At 8:37 PM there is a systematic crashing of every security camera within the prison. That's about the only thing on the timeline. There are now on record twenty versions of eyewitness accounts of her escape. On principle all accounts from male guards were disregarded. Half of the females appear to have been equally enamored with the escapee. Still, the investigation has been since dropped for reasons best left for the following segment of our story. Based solely on the testimony of the only reliable source (used in the most flexible terms as it came from a blind prisoner) it can be ascertained that a certain vase and perhaps a hidden object in it afforded her the opportunity to escape.

Never let it be said that Uchiha Itachi does not take care his family.

* * *

"Hey." The low growl comes from Kisame. He is standing on the apartment building's roof. Diedara is leaning beside him, hair snapping in the vicious winds. Kisame's chin jerks forward. Diedara's eyes follow the gesture. Below them, down the road, the red smudge of light flickers, the result of a passing figure.

"Hm," Diedara grins. "He was right."

"As usual."

"Think she'll come to the roof or Matrix up the lobby?"

"Fifty for this way. She's always been the sneaky type."

"Bitch is cold, man. I heard the rumors but _damn_. Assassinating your own son?"

Kisame grins toothily. "Well, there's only one way for her to complete the contract."

Diedara peers at him with bright blue eye. "Eh?"

"The estates of a convicted felon pass to the court," Kisame explains as they wait. "So there's only two ways for Sasuke kid to inherit."

Diedara nods, understanding. "She has to be proven innocent or-."

"Or not make it to the court date for the only excusable reason that exists." Kisame grins. "Everyone knows which one of those is possible."

"And which one isn't," Diedara finishes smirking.

"Hm," Kisame chuckles. "And her other option of course is to 'terminate' the contract before Itachi sends us after her."

"She's stupid if she thinks that would stop us from going after her," Diedara mutters.

"Scum like her don't know about loyalty. But ignorance is bliss right? After all, all that comes down to just one inevitable option for her."

A grappling hook flies over the rail with a loud clank.

Diedara snaps his fingers. Dark figures materialize from the shadowy corners of the roof behind the pair. More than one has an anticipatory grin shining in the dim light.

Kisame sticks a palm out and Diedara slaps some bills in it as a dark shadow climbs over the rail.

* * *

Some say Death is a man, hooded and cloaked. His shroud is mystery itself, his weapon of choice a scythe, his political affiliations unknown (_Communist_ cough, cough, ha ha). You'll notice though that the people who should have the most say in what Death truly looks like are the people least likely to comment on the subject.

The truth of the matter is Death appears to many different people in many different forms. Most of the time he's a damn sneaky fellow. Sometimes knocking away at your door, crying for help and God's mercy with a stranger's face. But every now and then he's recognizable. Every now and then he's someone you know.

The man stands above her. His eyes glint in the darkness, the white light racing over bottomless pits of nothingness. A booted toe nudges a pen across the floor.

Mikoto lies on a white carpet. A white couch wraps around a coffee table and large floor to ceiling windows afford a nighttime view of the river and city. The light that glows from the city reveals dark smudges on the carpet. It's too dark to see what color those puddles are. A paper lies under her outstretched hand.

"Finish the contract." The figure crouches down and Mikoto stares into his eyes. The white light that traced a border between the black of his eyes and the world is gone. She's left to stare into the endless dark. If anything can be compared to death in this realm, more than sleeping, more than dreaming, it's looking into those eyes. A smudge of red burns somewhere in the shadows of them, a relief against the stretching black, like a lamp of hope. And then it fades and all that is left is all consuming death.

"Finish the contract Mother." Itachi repeats the command gently. He wraps long fingers over her own, curling them and forcing her to grasp the pen. "This shall be the only right thing you've ever done. Sasuke was stronger than I- he lived under your and Father's rule for years, all in the hopes of gaining something I gave up on years ago. As much as it _kills_ me," his lips curl snidely, sickeningly, "To say this, Sasuke needs this. It's his freedom- to know his own worth. Show him Mother. Show him that at least one of your sons was loved unconditionally. Regardless of what he did. Show him you loved him."

"Sa-suke," she gasps. Her fingers slowly form the curves and drops of her signature. Spit and blood clatters in her throat, her lungs. It's choking her, constricting her to short gasps that grow weaker and weaker.

Itachi tugs the signed paper from beneath her bleached white hand. Blood smears under her skin on to its surface. He rises from the ground and hands the signature to a young man with red hair. His eyes scan the document.

"Well?" Itachi asks.

"It's legal," Gaara says in his whispery dry voice. "Uchiha Sasuke is officially the heir."

"Thank you," Itachi replies crisply. "This completes our contract as well."

It's clear that Gaara has been dismissed. But he remains where he is, jade eyes throwing back what little light there is like the eyes of a hunting cat. "When will I get him?" Gaara asks.

"Soon," Itachi answers steely. Gaara blinks and leaves the apartment without any more acknowledgement of the man or situation within.

Itachi stands over the dying woman and sighs.

"S-ah-ah," her throat sputters. "Sa-ah-suke."

Itachi sits on the floor next to her, his back leaning against the couch. His legs stretch out. He smoothes his palm over her crown of black hair. "He's not here," he tells the woman sadly. "And this doesn't make him yours."

Her shaky breathing dies slowly on her lips. In the following silence Itachi sighs. "But I know he's not mine anymore either." His head tilts back to the cushions of the couch and he stares into the shadows above his head.

* * *

The second Sasuke sees the blonde hair, crinkled blue eyes, and abashed smile he regrets opening the door. Unfortunately for him Uzamaki Naruto is an expert on Sasuke and anticipates his anger. The detective catches the shoved door midswing and pushes his way in.

"Didn't I tell you I never wanted to see you face again," Sasuke snarls trying to shove the door shut.

"Is that what 'go fuck yourself and die' meant?" Naruto inquires grinning, easily matching and countering his force on the door. "That you don't wanna see me anymore? 'Cause if that's what you meant, ya coulda said that."

Sasuke abandons his efforts on the door. He stalks from the foyer of the manor, going deeper into the house, and Naruto pads after him.

Naruto whistles impressed as they walk down a long hallway. To him it looks more like a monastery than a house. The floor is polished wood and wooden beams support a high ceiling. The windows are huge; gothic styled and arched at the top they overlook the gardens that surround the home. Vines and flowers, laden heavily with white and red blossoms, crowd over the glass panes from the outside.

"I can't believe your mom escaped from prison. Holy shit, you shoulda been at there when the call came in. I guess I shouldn't ask if you've heard from her though huh? Sill, it was nice of her to give you all this. I bet you're glad to have this back, huh?"

Sasuke doesn't acknowledge him.

"It must be kinda lonely though," Naruto comments. "Don't you think you oughta invite your brother to live here-."

Sasuke whirls on him and slams him into a window. The panes shudder but don't break.

"-too," Naruto finishes, lips pursed.

"Get the fuck out of my house!" Sasuke roars.

"No," Naruto says stubbornly. "Do you even realize what Itachi's had to go through?"

"Don't even mention that person," Sasuke growls.

"You can't hate both of us forever."

"Wanna bet?"

"Sasuke, I'm sorry!" Naruto cries. "We were just trying to help you!"

Sasuke release his hold on Naruto and steps back. "I can take care of myself. I didn't need_ his_ help."

"Yeah, you're right." Naruto nods knowingly, holding on to his chin. "It's not like he saved you from going to prison like the rest of your crummy family. He's just a meddling bastard who had it in for-."

Sasuke punches him.

"Uhhggg," Naruto moans holding the side of his face. "That smarts."

"I told you not to mention that man to me," Sasuke states coldly. "Now get out."

"Sasuke, I know you miss him. Just get your head out of your ass." And with that sagely advice Naruto takes his leave.

Sasuke wanders into a living room filled with expensive furniture, decorated with expensive art, and completely devoid of people. He collapses on the floor and sits with his back against the couch. He tilts his head back against the cushions, his bangs falling back against his cheeks.

"I do miss him," he admits in a whisper to the shadows above his head.


	6. Bartender Make This Double the Heartache

Itachi had at some point in his life considered that his love for his brother was unique. As he grew he would come to recognize that it was in fact taboo. But he could never agree with that judgment. To him, their shared blood just made the bond more perfect. More binding. But as Sasuke grew and became more independent, Itachi would think that maybe he was not just protective of his young brother but overprotective. His love for his brother was a little overzealous, his hugs a bit too tight. Those were Sasuke's words though. The first time the issue had come up the young Itachi had been shocked. Sasuke had roused from his nap locked in his brother's arms and informed his aniki gravelly (and a bit breathily) that he was being squished to death. Itachi had loosened his arms some. Not much, but he gave his brother a bit of wiggle room. And he had given him a sweet kiss on the lips and Sasuke had returned it before snuggling up to his warm body and falling back into sleep.

One would think he would learn his lesson. You know, _eventually_.

"Kisame!" Sasuke snaps. "What the fuck!"

Kisame folds his newspaper up and sets it down on the small table. He's sitting outside a small café. The large man dwarfs the small table and the dainty cup of tea laying on it looks ridiculous. But no one tells him that.

Sasuke is not a stupid man. On the contrary, he is rather clever and observant- certainly observant enough to notice the men that have been shadowing his every move for the past few days.

"Tell him to stop doing this!"

"Tell who to stop doing what, little Sasuke?"

Sasuke's eyes narrow. "You know."

Kisame sighs tiredly. "I assure you Sasuke, none of us are really enjoying this. Seriously, his anxiety is getting harder and harder to deal with and it's not like you ever do anything interesting ei-."

"Oh come on man, are you fucking serious?" Diedara flounces up to them and pulls back a chair at the table with the shrill sound of metal meeting cobblestone. He drops into it and stretches out leisurely. "Don't glare at me, man," he says to Kisame. "He knows anyway and I was getting bored. It's true what he says," Diedara says turning to Sasuke. "You're very boring during the day. But I feel it's my duty as an objective observer to point out that at night you turn into a very sexily horny creature and out of respect for your sheets and hand I feel like I should let you know it's best to take that sort of aggression out on someone real- not _whoever_ you're imagining, even though we all know who that is."

Sasuke's face is burning.

"Don't worry, Sasuke," Diedara says cheerily. "We haven't told him about that. He's still under the impression that you hate him."

"I do hate him," Sasuke hisses.

"Tell that to your di-."

Kisame stands abruptly. "Sasuke. Our shift ends in ten minutes. That's when our replacements come." He looks him in the eye meaningfully. "I'm gonna go remind your confused brother what the definition of stalker is. Enjoy your evening." Kisame drags Diedara away. Sasuke can hear the blonde protesting and Kisame saying something about how demeaning and pathetic the whole thing is. Then Sasuke hastily leaves the area freed of his shadows and smirking at how upset he imagines Itachi will be. He almost pities his brother's employees but can't bring himself to be anything but grateful towards Kisame.

* * *

"And his hugs are always too tight!"

"Sasuke maybe you should slow down," Naruto warns. The two of them are perched on stools at the Cabaret. Sasuke is sulky and already drunk. He meets Naruto's kindly meant suggestion with a glare.

"I thought I was finally free of that fucker. But no. Even without his men stalking me I can't get him out of my head. I can hear him laughing at me and smirking. Have you seen his smirk?" Sasuke asks. "It's the most irritating, condescending, annoying, fucking thing ever. I hate it."

Naruto doesn't bother to point out that one, the last sentence was unnecessary given the previous, two Sasuke's own smirk is near identical to his brother's, and three annoying is basically that same thing as irritating. After all, Sasuke is still a little angry with him. Instead he claps his long time friend on the back and says, "Everyone hates it. It's part of his charm."

"He doesn't have _charm_. He has soul devouring eyes and a sexy-as-hell body and a fuck-me-please voice and he knows it too, so he doesn't even _need _charm." Sasuke downs his whiskey and gestures the bartender over. Naruto shakes his head at the bartender. He is ignored. So when a new glass of whiskey is set in front of the fuming and drunk raven, Naruto snatches it away.

"Give me that," Sasuke growls.

"What, this?" Naruto swirls the glass in slow circles that seems to hypnotize the raven. He makes an uncoordinated grab at it. Naruto grins and downs the alcohol. Sasuke smacks him in the shoulder.

"Traitor!" Sasuke yells.

Naruto slaps a hand over his mouth. "Sasuke I need you to focus and listen to me for a second, alright?"

Sasuke nods solemnly and Naruto removes his hand. "Itachi worked very hard to get you of harm's way. If it wasn't for him, you would have been arrested. Your name was on the list and there isn't anything you could have done about it. Itachi loves you. Trust me. I can tell."

"I thought _you_ were the one who saved me. That's what you said earlier when you were on your knees."

"O~kay, don't say it like that or your brother will have my balls. And of course I was the one who saved your sorry ass!" Naruto boasts. "But Itachi helped. A lot. Actually he did most of the work."

Sasuke turns away. "I don't care," he says stubbornly.

"Sasuke would you listen to me? He loves you. And from what I've heard for the past _six_ hours, you've got it bad for him too." Naruto puts his hands in the air, palms to Sasuke, warding off his anger. "I'm not judging. In fact I think it's awesome. That you have someone. Not all of us are so lucky ya know." Naruto smiles a touch sadly. "So stop worrying about _how_ he saved you. Yeah, it wasn't ideal for you but come on. Everyone knows your parents are- were…well, whatever. I'm just saying. Itachi loves you more than they ever did. And you love him, so stop being so goddamn pig-headed." Naruto gives him a huge smile and for a second thinks that he got through to the pissed Uchiha. Then Sasuke turns to the bartender and coolly orders another drink.

* * *

Itachi stalks in front of his windows, glaring out over the river that tumbles angrily and rushed and white-capped, tearing at its banks. Above the tumultuous waters agitated crows caw loudly and dive at seagulls aggressively.

"Has he been found?" Itachi asks coldly.

"Sir, perhaps you should calm down? We are searching for him everywhere. We'll find him but it takes time. And Sasuke is exceptional at evading pursuit."

Diedara shrugs at the glare he is sent. "Just saying."

Itachi resumes his pacing only to be interrupted by his phone ringing. Diedara examines it. "It's the detective."

Itachi ignores him.

"I'll just answer it then, shall I? Hello, Goldie Locks."

[…]

"You remember me!" Diedara cries delighted and grinning maliciously.

[…]

"Aww, don't be like that. I thought you were having fun."

[…]

Diedara sighs in resignation. "Yes he is. But I'm not getting the feeling that he's capable of speech."

[…]

"That's none of your business," Diedara says coolly. "Be careful what you say or you may find that- ah. He's ready to speak to you." Dieadara passes the phone to the ominous, looming presence that is his employer.

Itachi waves a hand, dismissing Diedara. The blonde butler leaves the apartment. Itachi continues his new favorite pastime of imagining the city crumbling and toppling into billows of black smoke and splashing sparks and rising flames with the same dark-eyed intensity that he normally fixes on any would-be worshippers and soon-to-be victims. He rouses from the daydream reluctantly to listen to Naruto.

"-thought you oughta know, your men are fucking terrifying," Naruto tells him. "And if I ever see them again I won't hesitate to shoot on sight. They were like sharks in the middle of a feeding frenzy. Did you raid an asylum to recruit so many crazies?"

Itachi chuckles. "I'll tell my men that they have your respect and be sure to send your compliments along."

"Those were not compliments! Jesus…" Naruto moans morosely. "I've seen Hell." He whimpers theatrically. "Anyways, after seeing that shit go down, I decided I don't wanna be in your debt. Ever. So I thought of a payment."

Itachi hums in a discouraging way.

"Shika says there's only one way to get through to you. He says-."

"Who is Shika?"

"Uh, Dr. Nara. You've met."

"Have we?"

"_Listen_. He says your weakness is Sasuke. No surprises there. But it made me think, maybe you want to why Sasuke killed that man at the Cabaret?"

"Why would I care?"

"It has to do with you."

Itachi chuckles. "I already know why."

"What?! How?"

"I have my ways."

"You arrogant prick," Naruto states. "I'm trying to do you a favor."

"I don't think you understand Naruto. I don't need your favors. This whole situation has been under my control the entire time."

"That's why Sasuke isn't talking to you now?"

"That was…my one mistake," Itachi admits softly.

"Uchihas make mistakes?"

"On occasion. Like you said Sasuke is my weakness. I overestimated his ability to handle this."

"And you still say this whole thing was in your hands the whole time. That's impossible. How'd you get Sasuke to come to you? You couldn't have known he'd kill a man…"

"Couldn't I have?"

Naruto shivers at the mysterious, ominous voice.

"Sasuke isn't a complicated person," Itachi continues. "I know him better than anyone. I've known him since he was born. I know how to elicit certain reactions from him. In a matter of seconds I can make him go from crying to laughing. I know how to push him into anger and what makes him horny. I've been watching over him for years. Don't think I need your help to understand him."

"Wow," Naruto drawls unimpressed. "You're like a major creep, ya'know? Anyways, that all sounds wonderful but if you know him so well why is he glaring over a bottle of Jack Daniels and fuck-dancing any long-haired guy in the vicinity and overall looking like a lost little puppy?"

"…You know where Sasuke is?" Itachi asks.

"Uh duh. I'm with him."

"Where?"

"At the-." Naruto breaks off into an evil laugh. "Oh, you almost got me Itachi. But guess what? Somehow I've miraculously forgotten. Maybe your men can find him. But you better hurry. Sasuke's about to lose his tongue in some punk's mouth. Is that part of your plan?"

Itachi growls. "Tell me where you're at and we're even."

"Say that again? Hm, he found his tongue. It's safe. No never mind- he's just about to lose something else in that body. _Goddamn _your little bro is _flexible._"

"Give me the address now and we are even," Itachi hisses rather uncharacteristically.

"Let's see, address…address…" Naruto murmurs searchingly. "Six seventy-, no that's next door…six sixty-huh what_ is_ the street name?"

"Uzamaki, I swear I will kill any other man that Sasuke touches and all of their cases will be assigned to you and you won't be able to get a bit of evidence on me. When your reputation as a policeman is destroyed I will come after you personally. By the time I'm through with you-."

"Yeah, yeah cool your fires. I'm outside your fucking door."

Itachi chucks his cell and wrenches his front door open. Naruto is standing there propping up a passed out Sasuke.

"Here," the blonde says passing over the limp, slim body. Itachi holds his little brother in his arms.

"We are even," Naruto enunciates. "See ya!"

Diedara is hovering behind Naruto watching the exchange. Itachi glares.

"What?" Diedara shrugs. "The man loves art. And let's be honest- this is the only taste you've ever had of what you really deserve."

It's a testament to the validity of that statement that Itachi only blinks, hugs his brother close, and closes the door softly.

* * *

"Itachi?"

"I'm here." Itachi warily approaches. His younger brother is laying on the white couch his eyes searching in the dark for Itachi. When he's close enough Sasuke stretches his hand out and grabs Itachi's fingers. He yanks him and Itachi half falls on top of him. Sasuke tugs his arm more, snuggling it close to his chest and trying to pull him down.

"What are you doing?" Itachi asks amused with his struggles.

"I'm cold."

"I think you're still drunk."

"No I'm not," Sasuke protests childishly.

Itachi tugs his arm free and sits near Sasuke's feet. Sasuke sits up and reverses positions. He rests on his shins, his face close to Itachi's. Itachi looks at him.

"You got a new rug," Sasuke observes.

"I did."

"How'd I get here?"

"Naruto dropped you off."

"He must have realized what mood I was in."

"What mood is that? Are you angry with me? I can't tell but you look like you want to eat me right now."

"Do I?" Sasuke darts in and clamps his teeth down on Itachi's earlobe.

"Hey." Itachi's palm is against Sasuke's cheek, pushing lightly.

"Hey what?" Sasuke asks into his ear. His tongue swipes across sensitive sin, inflaming it.

"Ahh," Itachi moans. Seriously, his little brother is difficult to resist. Always has been. "Don't you think we need to talk?"

Sasuke shakes his head viciously. "I don't want to talk." Itachi is about to protest but Sasuke seals his words in with his lips. His tongue thrusts in. Sasuke presses closer. He straddles Itachi's leg and pushes him into the couch with the force of his kiss. His lips devour Itachi's mouth; his hands seek the hot skin beneath his shirt.

Itachi escapes the scorching mouth and draws in air. His lips are sodden and hot. "Sasuke," he gasps.

"Hm?" Sasuke murmurs not listening. His mouth is traveling over Itachi's neck.

"We need to talk. About how we stand and what we are."

"I'll be whatever you want me to be." Sasuke nips at his mouth playfully. "Your gamepiece, your toy, your slave, anything you want."

"Wait. What?" Itachi draws away from him and holds him at arm's length.

Sasuke's brows knit together. "Isn't that what you want? For me to be yours?"

"Not like that."

"You can't say that," Sasuke says suddenly getting mad. "It's not like we can be just brothers now. You've been stalking me and messing with me this entire time. All I can think about is you now! It's like you own my mind."

"Sasuke that's- that's not what I want."

"Then what the fuck _do_ you want?!"

It isn't the question that has Itachi stumped. He knows what he _wants_. But…he doesn't know how to get it this time. Last time didn't work did it? He'd played his hand and everything had fallen into place- everything except his little brother's reaction. The last time he was presented with such a perplexing question- _does your brother love you back?- _Itachi had delivered an astounding clear _keep the fuck out of my business._ He suspects a similar approach won't work this time. Mainly because he's made Sasuke his business. So in a rare moment of desperation he diverts rather awkwardly.

"I haven't been stalking you."

"You've had your men following me!"

"Ah…yes."

"Have you just been screwing with me this whole time?" Sasuke demands.

"I wanted you to be _safe_."

"So you decided to fuck me?! Was that all it was to you?"

"No! Gods Sasuke I-."

Sasuke pushes his shoulders and stumbles from the couch. "I have to go."

"Wait. Stop. Sasuke, how can you doubt that I love you?"

"Because I don't understand you!" he screams. "How can you do all of this? What do you want?" His shoulders shake with light sobs.

Itachi strokes his thumb down a tear streak but Sasuke slaps his hand away. Itachi tucks his hand away and gives Sasuke space, trying to bury the despair that's building up in his chest.

"I want you to be happy," Itachi tells him finally. "Like you used to be."

"That's it?"

"…yes. That's it," Itachi lies.

"Fine."

"You're leaving? Can't we talk?"

"No. Your face pisses me off. I don't want to see you anymore."

"Alright," Itachi agrees unexpectedly. "That will- make you happy?"

"Yes," Sasuke lies.


	7. Paradise Sings Sweetly From Its Grave

_Two months later_

"Hey," Naruto says quietly. He meekly sits on the bench beside Sasuke. They're in a small park that overlooks the river. It's overcast, the sky grey but bright. It smells like wet sand and water.

Sasuke grunts his greeting.

"Still a little salty, huh?" Naruto chuckles at Sasuke glare. "It's fine, it's fine. I understand." He pulls a folder from his jacket and hands it over to Sasuke. "They found her body in the river. I'm sorry Sasuke."

Sasuke looks at the picture disinterestedly before sliding them back into the folder. He shrugs. "It's fine."

Naruto looks at him surprised. Sasuke shrugs again. "I knew she was dead. And if you don't know who did it you're a bigger idiot than I thought."

Naruto shifts on the bench uncomfortably. He is after all an officer of the law.

Sasuke tilts his head back and gazes up at a circle of gliding seagulls. "I didn't realize what he was giving me. This is the first time I've been truly free. I don't have Father's expectations hanging over me and I don't have nightmares about Mother's lessons anymore."

Naruto's eyes widen in shock. Sasuke flaps a hand at him. "I didn't think you'd be able to stomach hearing about them. There's a reason Itachi took off. I hated him for so long because of it." His fingers clench into a tight fist. "And now I'm hating him all over again."

"You've heard about it then, huh?"

"…yeah."

"Do you know where…?"

"Not yet," Sasuke says darkly. Naruto smiles.

"You wouldn't believe the number of people we've heard complain about it. As high a price it came at, they still want his help. Can you believe people miss that bastard?" Naruto asks.

A question to which Sasuke grunts sourly. Naruto's smile turns to an all-out grin at Sasuke's moody refusal to acknowledge his feelings.

"Hey, Sasuke. When you find him, ask Itachi about the Cabaret."

Sasuke stares out at the river a long time. "I'll do that."

* * *

The city's whispers rise above the rush of the river. The people whisper of his disappearance. They wonder where he has gone to. The sky is weeping. The river ripples with the warm, wet breeze as spheres of water drop to its surface. The chatter is picking up. Did someone finally kill him? The wind rushes over the bridge. Sheets of rain splatter on to the road. It's getting louder. Was he arrested? He ought to be arrested.

Droplets of rain bead on the glass globe. Sasuke stares up at it. The rain is soaking his hair, his clothes. He blinks water out of his eyes. The devil's out there somewhere. Stalking the darkness. But where? Where is he? The globe in front of Sasuke is dark. The lamp doesn't burn red anymore. It doesn't burn at all anymore. It is dark and dead.

He should go home. To his manor, his childhood home that Itachi gifted him. He should shed the clothes that cling to his skin and crawl under the covers and not think about the brother who betrayed him. But he can't. He stares at the apartment building and knows he'll enter it soon. It's always empty now. It's gathering dust. But Sasuke is compelled by some force, some longing to enter it.

When the front door shuts it dims the sound of the pouring rain. Raindrops still hit the windows, clinking against the glass. But it is quiet in the lobby. He leaves wet footsteps in the red carpet and small puddles on the marble. He goes to the abandoned piano, the one by the bar. The sheet that once half covered the instrument lies crumpled on the floor.

His fingers stroke the keys. He plays Satie's Gymnopedie No. 1. Slowly and softly it fills the still room. It's a song suited to the rain that pitter-patters in the background. Sasuke thinks that perhaps it is best suited for an afternoon shower, the type that comes in spring and drenches the budding flowers and drips down the petals to the green below. But right now, in the warm rainy evening, in the city and in the dark, he finds it perfect.

"For three years I waited for you to come to me." The voice is lightly amused, masking anything deeper. It comes from the shadows. "I should have known all it would take was leaving for you to come searching. You're always so contrary."

Sasuke stares down at his hands, still on the ivory keys. His heart is wringing. He plunks out a fragment of melody. It winds through the hollow air. "That certainly would have been easier," Sasuke says at last. "You always make things complicated."

"You mean I fuck things up."

"Definitely," Sasuke agrees. He refuses to turn from the piano. His hands need the stability, the patterns of the black and white keys.

"Diedara says you've been visiting this place."

"Only when I get lonely."

"He says you've come here every night since I've been gone."

"He says a lot for a butler."

For long moments there is only the sound of the rain and the piano. Sasuke moves on to the second movement.

"I lied," Itachi says in the dark. "When I said all I wanted was for you to be happy. That was my last-ditched attempt at being a good older brother. For as long as I can remember I've wanted you. When we last spoke I realized that I had gone about getting what I wanted- getting you- badly. Even that's an understatement." He chuckles humorlessly. "I'm a selfish person S'ke. If I could I would tuck you away from the world. I would try to erase your life and our parents, everything but me, from your memory. I want to restart the reel to the days where we played in Mother's gardens. When you would fall asleep in the sun and I'd carry you, but only as far as the shade. And I would watch you sleep there because I didn't want anyone else to see how beautiful you are. I need you. I need your love and your lust. Anything you'll give me."

Sasuke's hands still. All that is left is the sound of the rain. "You abandoned me," he says. He twists around on the piano bench. For the first time his eyes seek out his brother, standing in the shadows. The eyes that fall on Itachi burn with an old hurt. "You left me alone."

"I know."

"I'm not talking about just now. Three years ago when you-."

"I know."

"I really hated you."

"…I know."

"You never apologized."

"…"

"Fuck you," Sasuke says quietly.

Itachi emerges from the dark. He cradles Sasuke's head and presses his lips to his forehead before kneeling in front of Sasuke. His head comes up to his chest. Itachi wraps his arms around his brother's waist. His head buries into his stomach. "I'm sorry," comes the muffled apology.

Sasuke bends over his head, petting down his head to clasp his neck. "I am too," Sasuke says.

"Hey," Itachi's head shoots up. "Don't cry."

"I'm not crying," Sasuke growls.

Itachi kisses his glistening cheek. "Of course you're not." He smiles. It's small, apologetic, and full of love. Adoring and adorable.

Itachi lips land a kiss on Sasuke. "I love you," he whispers. His breath tickles Sasuke's lips. Purely in the interest of preventing the tickle Sasuke presses his lips forward and kisses him back. As their lips twist and mesh and meld Itachi straddles Sasuke, rubbing down into his lap.

"Mmm." Sasuke is in Itachi's mouth swirling their tongues together. He can feel a moan in Itachi's chest and in his pants he can feel…a promise.

Their bodies, ridiculously compatible, writhe and pulse against one another. Their lips don't part as they surge together. Sasuke's moans are unbearably sexy, terribly loud, but all the more delicious for it. Also terribly loud is the piano when the keys are banged into mercilessly.

"Shit," Sasuke pants as the discordant clamor fades into the marble.

"Can't tell which was louder." Itachi pecks him, lips curling into a smile. "You or the piano."

"Shuddup," Sasuke says smiling just as much. His thumb massages into the softness beneath Itachi's hipbone. "Loud is fun and you've already proved you can match me." The thumb trails lower, dipping under Itachi's waistband.

They soon find out that firstly, Itachi can indeed match his brother in loudness and secondly, Itachi's employees aren't nearly as deaf or discreet as they'd like them to be.

* * *

"Jesus fuck!" Naruto screams and scrambles to balance in his chair and manages to keep it upright. His hand automatically seeks out his gun but in the office he doesn't carry it. "What are you doing here?!" he demands.

"Hey Goldie Locks, talk to Gaara lately?" Diedara asks, wide-eyed and innocent as he perches on Naruto's desk.

"Uh, no." Naruto's blue eyes slide to his bottom desk drawer. If he can only reach it…no, not the Uchiha files. The other needful he stores in there. It's not the whiskey either. "What the fuck are you here for?"

"That's a shame. We are here to inform you that the glorious prince of darkness has returned," Diedara says dreamily.

Naruto considers the distance. There's only two feet between his hand and the drawer.

"Actually," the hulking man named Kisame says, "He ordered us to tell you that while he appreciates your enthusiasm in protecting the city from criminals such as ourselves it would be completely illegal for you to shoot us as you have no evidence against us."

"He…made you come…to tell me not to shoot you," Naruto says in disbelief.

"Yes," Kisame says pleased that the blonde caught on so quickly.

"Rii-iight."

"It's true," Diedara confirms. He flicks his long hair over his shoulder. "Really though, it was a matter of getting rid of us. In the pouring rain too!"

Naruto squints suspiciously. "You're not wet."

Diedara lays a finger across his lip. "Secret of the trade."

"Why'd he need to get rid of you?" Naruto asks almost curious.

"Well!" Diedara starts. "Sasuke kid has been pining after him you see. And Itachi hasn't been acting much better. Those Uchiha genes are so stubborn! Anyways, they finally got their fated little reunion, which is all well and fine, but not while it's raining and not while we're there. That younger one is really _loud_, if you get my meaning." Naruto almost cringes at the wink Diedara sends him.

"So basically he sent you here to bother me so he can fuck Sasuke into oblivion?"

Kisame very innocently nods.

Dieadara's current actions on the other hand are ever so slightly more ominous. He slides a pair of white gloves onto his hands and wiggles his clothed fingers.

"Uh," Naruto says.

"Don't worry Goldie," Diedara purrs as he leans over the desk and grabs Naruto's tie. "If you feel left out we can have our own reunion."

"Fuck!" Naruto shrieks as his chair topples over on account of him leaning as far away from the blonde butler as possible.

Diedara cackles and stretches leisurely before sidling off Naruto's desk. Kisame passes him a handkerchief, stained and limp with some sort of liquid. "Yes, fucking is in the air."

* * *

Itachi backs Sasuke slowly into the elevator and tucks him into the corner. Their lips are locked, their tongues dancing, tastes mingling, breaths shared. Itachi breaks the contact to push the button for the sixth floor. It takes all of two seconds for him to twist and jab it but when he turns back Sasuke's eyes are off of him, mesmerized and locked on the mirror that lines the moving box.

Sasuke is staring at the reflection of the two of them. His cheeks are flushed, his lips pulsing with blood. His eyes are wide, dilated, and lusty. They travel over the reflection of his brother. His perfect Itachi. His long hair is gleaming under the bright lights, his skin pale and smooth like marble. But Sasuke's are drawn back to his own reflection. His eyes can't decide. Himself or his Itachi. His retina is capturing a perfect image in that moment of transfer between them. When his eyes are seeing Itachi but his occipital lobe is still written with the image of himself. They overlap and blur, the resemblance between them growing more and more on his consciousness. They are beautiful.

Itachi sees his brother staring into the mirror. He is flushed, his expression frozen and almost scared. His breath flutters on his lips. Itachi sees the two of them, their similarities, their differences, their perfection. His lips creep towards Sasuke, his immobile Sasuke who is caught in the moment and unwilling to break the illusion. Itachi's lips part. They caress Sasuke's neck, tightening around the smooth skin, squeezing and sliding over it.

Sasuke exhales slowly.

Itachi tucks his head on Sasuke's shoulder. Slowly he inhales. His lungs fill with Sasuke's scent and grow tight with the feeling of _being_, just being here, breathing and holding onto this person. It is that plethora of aching feeling; the one of wanting and having that can only be translated into love. Itachi holds his brother in an embrace that grows tighter and tighter as the elevator nears the sixth floor. But never so tight that Sasuke complains.

* * *

Naruto wakes in complete darkness. The rattle of handcuffs locked on a metal bar is loud in his ear. He gives his hand an experimental tug- it remains strung up over his head. He is lying on a bed. It's soft, but he's not concerned with that right now. He was at the office wasn't he? And then...Itachi's men. The scary big man and the scarier smiling butler. There's a whisper of movement to his right and the fact that he is naked, very, very naked, springs to the forefront of Naruto's mind.

"Hello?" Naruto asks in a small voice. It barely pierces the pressing black, so suffocating it's nearly tangible.

"Itachi sends his thanks," a dry whisper emerges from the dark.

Nartuo tenses at the voice but remains unnaturally still.

"He says it's a gold star to your career to be the one to put Uchiha Fugaku behind bars forever," the soft voice recites. "But, he says, you shouldn't have made things difficult for yourself. He says you'd know what he was speaking of. That he recognizes a fellow prankster, but doesn't really appreciate when the joke is on him. So this is his little revenge."

"Hey!"

Cold hands touch down at the base of Naruto's neck. They trail down his naked chest and over his abdomen. Naruto jumps when they continue even lower, over his hipbones and curving inward on his thigh. Extra weight pushes the mattress down and then someone straddles Naruto's legs. The cold fingers are running through his curls, creating itches in their path. And then the hands are lazily pumping and fondling him.

"_Stop_." Naruto squirms and twists his hips but movement is limited with his legs caught beneath someone. "Let go," he pants still struggling. The handcuffs chink.

The hand around him tightens and pulls harder. If it's a threat the only thing the extra pressure is doing is making Naruto grow.

"You can't do this," he protests. His hips buck up trying to throw the weight. The hands pause and move away, leaving Naruto fully erect. The hands press down on the tops of his thighs as something hot, wet, and unseen descends down his erection.

Naruto gasps at the heat and his hips buck again. This time it only sends him further into a hot mouth. A skilled tongue is creating a wonderful friction against him.

"Stop," Naruto groans. "Don't." The handcuffs are tight on his straining arms.

The mouth pulls on his cock. It's slick and Naruto can hear the sounds of light licks and slurps over the pounding of blood in his ears.

"Ahhh, no, _stop_," Naruto moans.

The mouth doesn't stop. Naruto makes a sound of protest in his throat, or is that a moan? He's getting lost in this feel, lost in his mind, lost in that mouth. And then the mouth pauses and pulls off. Naruto's hips try to follow but are pressed down into the bed.

"I forgot something," the whispery voice informs him.

Naruto whines, desperate for more.

"He also says, don't bother looking for Uchiha Mikoto's killer. It was suicide."

It's torture. Pure torture. Naruto is panting. Each breath that falls from his lips is a plea for more. At least, that's how it seems.

The tongue returns, laving the liquid that drips down Naruto's cock. Cheeks return to suction it. The throat returns to engulf it deeply. Naruto's body is primed.

"Ahhhh, no, no, _no_, stop, please sto- ahh!"

Naruto comes, his body arcing from the bed but anchored by his wrists. He moans sweetly.

There is rustling. Naruto can feel a body close to his, over his. Rough, dry lips press to his own. "You can stop bitching now." The air of his words tickles Naruto's ear. "I know this is one of your secret fantasies."

"Who the fuck told you that?!" Naruto screeches in a voice slightly roughed up.

"Uchiha Itachi."

"Jesus Gaara! Do you seriously believe everything that man says?"

"Hardly," Gaara replies dryly. He reaches up and unlocks the handcuffs. Naruto sits up, feeling in the pitch black for the redhead but his wild gestures miss their mark.

Gaara's fingertips touch his shoulder gently. He turns the blonde's upper body towards him and kisses him, strangely hesitant now.

"I do hope one thing he told me was true though," Gaara confesses softly.

Naruto sighs, worn out. He laces his fingers through Gaara's and tugs him down next to him as he falls into the soft mattress. He hugs Gaara into his chest, running his fingers down the redhead's side and across his stomach. "What did the devil tell you?" Naruto asks into his ear. He kisses Gaara's pulse.

Gaara shivers and snuggles closer into Naruto's warmth.

* * *

The memories of the Garden have faded from the shared consciousness of the human race. But those lucky enough to have visited the Uchiha manor on the outskirts of the city have compared it to Eden. There are many contributing factors to this comparison. Great oak trees of strong wood shade the airy house. Small pools of clear water and white and orange and spotted black fish nestle into corners. Flowers of every imaginable color dance in the light breeze. Butterflies flutter over them and bees hum from one to another. A greenhouse of frosty glass and peeling white paint, filled to the brim with beautiful roses, eternally in bloom, sparkles under the sun. But everyone fortunate enough to have laid eyes on this paradise agrees that what really warrants the comparison to that mythical garden of old is the sound of children's laughter and the two raven haired cherubs that run and totter and wrestle through the field of flowers. But of course, like anything, that image of perfection would disappear all too quickly. The eldest would grow up. His eyes would peer curiously beyond the tiny garden and into a world of deception and heartbreak.

When Adam and Eve left the garden, they abandoned a simple, unassuming, and pure love. But every now and then it appears again. Like a recessive gene popping up unexpectedly when just the right chromosomes come together to reveal a secret lying dormant beneath the dominant allele for generations. If only you can get the right bloodlines together.

Perhaps this story is neither Dantean nor Faustian. There is a fall to Hell and the Devil was sought out. And yet… perhaps there is more. Perhaps it is a fairytale of old, in which the witch is disemboweled and burnt alive and fed to the crows. But the hero gets a happily ever after with his true love. It may seem too simple to some. But not to anyone who has been in love, besotted, enamored. To us, love is a riddle- delightful, charming, and impossible. Not unlike this tale. The end is nigh and our princeling awaits true love's vow. I bet you forgot the British accent.

Itachi dances Sasuke into his bedroom and Sasuke sheds their clothes along the way. They are locked at the mouth and locked onto one another's eyes. Their gazes are challenging, but loving as well- if either were to look away or break their kiss the other would be quick to grab him back.

Their mouths slide and mash when they tumble onto the bed. Itachi is on top but he pulls back and tucks a strand of Sasuke's hair behind his ear, absently wiping the moisture from his lips. Sasuke makes a bite at his thumb.

"S'ke wait. I have to tell you something."

Sasuke grabs the back of his head and kisses him, shoving his tongue into Itachi's mouth. "Now?" he breathes desperately.

"We have time," Itachi says soothingly.

"Priorities first." This statement is punctuated with a hip thrust upwards at Itachi. Itachi chuckles when Sasuke grabs his hand and brings it to Sasuke's own crotch. Itachi rubs at the bulge obediently. Sasuke's bodies arcs beneath him and he nibbles at Itachi's neck.

"_Other_ priorities Sasuke."

Sasuke moans. His fingers travel under Itachi's shirt and pinch at his nipple.

Itachi breathes heavily. "God, you're sexy."

"I never said it did I?" Sasuke asks panting.

"Said what?" Itachi questions. His hand doesn't pause in its administrations.

"That I-nh! Ah…that I love you."

His eyes are so earnest and needy that Itachi has to smother a laugh.

"Don't _laugh_." Sasuke pounds a fist to his muscled chest.

"I'm sorry." Itachi kisses his wrinkled forehead. "I know you love me. I've known since you were ten and blushed and got flustered whenever I held you. I wouldn't have requested that night of you if I hadn't known that all you needed was a push in that direction. I've known since you killed a man over my reputation."

Sasuke's blush is immediate. "You knew?"

"I knew," Itachi confirms. "In fact I-." He rolls off of Sasuke. His hair shields his face. "Sasuke I'm so sorry. I know you must have been scared and I know you felt betrayed by Naruto when he wouldn't drop the investigation but that was my fault. I even-I set you up."

Sasuke bumps his forehead to Itachi's. "Naruto hinted as much. He said I should ask you about the Cabaret. If you set the whole thing up."

"What if I say yes?" Itachi whispers pained.

"Did you know what I would do? That I would defend you? That I would _kill_ a man for you?"

"I hoped."

"Okay."

"Okay?" Itachi asks. "Wait, S'ke please don't be upset. That man was a monster with a death wish and-."

"I'm not mad," Sasuke tells him lightly. "I was but now…" He strokes Itachi's head. "You freed me. I know what it cost you and I'm very grateful. But now," Sasuke speaks softly. His fingers twist Itachi's hair. "I just want you back."

Itachi smiles suddenly. His eyes dance with joy. "You'd forgive me for setting you up? Accept that I set up a scenario where a man would insult me within earing range of you in order to test your loyalty to me by either starting a fight or shooting a man down in the middle of the morning in front of a room full of witnesses and upon passing the test allow me to save you from a lifetime of imprisonment? Sasuke, that's preposterous."

Sasuke fixes him a long, odd look that's no less amused or loving than the one Itachi is giving him. "Absurd," Sasuke corrects. "It's absurd. And you know, not too long ago I decided absurdity's not so bad a thing." He smiles and the beauty of it dazzles Itachi. "But," his smile fades into an intensely serious stare. "You should have trusted me. You should have told me everything."

Itachi nods, chastened by his brother's words.

"You won't do something like that ever again," Sasuke orders. "Will you?" He slides his thumb down the column of Itachi's neck.

"No. Of course not."

And the smile returns. Itachi kisses it. "God, I love you S'ke," he breathes.

"I know now. And I love you back." He brings his mouth to Itachi's and caresses their lips together. "Now, back to those priorities?" he asks breathlessly and hopefully.

Itachi smirks. "That sounds perfect."

* * *

_Fin._


End file.
